Life Academy and TaxHelp for Older People (TOP) have secured funding from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to run 12 workshops on Taxation at Retirement for voluntary and community sector (VCS) groups that are supporting pensioners and pre-pensioners.
This funding was secured based on the tremendous success of the six workshops that the two charities ran earlier this year. The feedback from these workshops showed that the voluntary sector is receiving an increasing number of requests for help on tax issues from pre-pensioners and pensioners and that the workshops were extremely valuable in providing guidance for VCS staff. HMRC recognised this success, and have provided the funding to run a further 12 workshops in this financial year.
The main objective of the workshops is to give individuals that work in VCS an increased awareness, knowledge and understanding of taxation issues, so that they are able to provide a more effective first line of support to their pre-pensioner and pensioner customers.
Stuart Royston, Chief Executive of Life Academy said: “We are delighted to have won this funding which will enable us to expand the reach of this invaluable advice to a wider audience.”
In addition to running the workshops, Life Academy will also to create a network of VCS intermediaries so that they can be supported on an ongoing basis on taxation issues that are relevant to older people. Network members will have easy access to experts at TOP, thereby allowing a seamless referral of complex cases to give the customer a satisfying service.
Life Academy would like to hear from anyone in the voluntary sector interested in hosting a workshop in their location, attending a workshop or who would like to join the network. Please contact Stuart Royston directly at stuart.royston@life-academy.co.uk, or call him on 01483 301170.
